Ok I am done! I did the last fight with my fave squad: Dark Paladins, Dark Knights, Wizards, Demonologists, Amazons. It was great, I never felt a unit go out of place, and everyone usually had an opportunity to hit something.
Now I am all for the Vamp Phoenix/Magic Spring play-through. It's gonna be fun.
I am sad to say that the last fight was underwhelming. I am happy to say, that with a mod, it will be awesome. Just give the spirit more health, let the stacks be bigger, more diverse (like add level 5 units), and up the spirit damage a bit. Even on impossible, I knew I could win the fight right off the bat. I would also recommend banning ranged units on the mod, as they can be exploited to oblivion. Let the spirit summon melee units only.
EDIT 2: Or just let the stacks grow in leadership. Why? First it nullifies your leadership bonus for halves, and second, it is even more challenge.
In any case, I had a blast. I couldn't finish the Harlequin spy quest, but I assumed you need to take those guys in various fights, and I was already too deep into the game, that I barely had any stacks left for the guys to do something. Unless I misinterpreted the quest. If so, big deal
In any case, even though I never finished KNWOTN, this game sure feels like KBAp/CW. Give it a few mods, and it will do as well as the last one. I like it. It made me feel involved, especially in the quests. I loved how they revolve and how the quests deviate from the EXCLAMATION MARK games, where you just go to that guy and you done. You finally get to think based on the clues in the quest. This is the game that flies in the face of other games that just slams easy quests in the people's faces and makes them feel good. If you really want to play this game, your best friend is the notepad. Note all you did, how you did it, and what the npc's told you.
Broaden your horizons. Stop being linear. Expect more. This is how you know the game is good. Cause it tells us not to.
EDIT: It has to be said, that traps, while being awesome in the early game, are a huge hindrance in the late game. Your summoned troops adopt the "walk on traps" hobby, and they stick to it big time. I suggest you lol at them and keep going. I had tons of lols at cerberi/executioners faced with like the enemy's last 5 fairies walking into a trap that is absolutely not in their way. Go baby go! Go baby go! Go baby splat! Um, whoopsie!?